MontanaHawk05 wrote:This is better than I expected, but they're not there yet. Giving up 33 points to the Rams at home is a problem.

And Tedric seeing so few passes come his way is, at least in part, an artifact of a gimpy and Tom Cable-coached Raiders O-line being unable to protect long enough to set up any deep routes.

The Rams were averaging 35+ a game before us, so it's no slight to Thompson and McDougald.

The more important thing for me is how damn physical the secondary is playing, we're getting back to bullying WR corps like the old days................to the tune of knocking four WR's out of the game in two weeks.

Sgt. Largent wrote:The more important thing for me is how damn physical the secondary is playing, we're getting back to bullying WR corps like the old days................to the tune of knocking four WR's out of the game in two weeks.

THAT'S what I like about how these guys are playing, stats aside.

I've actually seen some chatter about this on other boards. There's this grudging admiration that while it seems like every other team is afraid to play defense now, Seattle just continues to hit like it's the old days. I mean even when they hit the QB, they weren't exactly micromanaging their body weight.

Sgt. Largent wrote:The more important thing for me is how damn physical the secondary is playing, we're getting back to bullying WR corps like the old days................to the tune of knocking four WR's out of the game in two weeks.

THAT'S what I like about how these guys are playing, stats aside.

I've actually seen some chatter about this on other boards. There's this grudging admiration that while it seems like every other team is afraid to play defense now, Seattle just continues to hit like it's the old days. I mean even when they hit the QB, they weren't exactly micromanaging their body weight.

Credit Pete and his coaches for how clinical and thorough they are with teaching proper tackling techniques.

I know people are saying McDougald's hit last week was illegal, but it's really the first time our aggressive and physical tackling has been called into question.

I'm not always enamored with how Pete runs his offense, but make no mistake he's one of the greatest defensive schemers and coaches of all time, especially at the DB position.

It's still early in the season but what these stats and the current product on the field show me is that our defense's success has more to do with the system than the players. It looks to me like our "system" creates stars not the other way around! It's too bad some of our stars didnt see it that way.

SpokaneHawks wrote:It's still early in the season but what these stats and the current product on the field show me is that our defense's success has more to do with the system than the players. It looks to me like our "system" creates stars not the other way around! It's too bad some of our stars didnt see it that way.

If one would to review ex-hawks defense stars, most were low round picks, castoffs, or un-drafted, these guys excelled with Hawks. Earl being an exception. Our current defense lineup? I saw a few low rounders, castoffs, and un-drafted.

SpokaneHawks wrote:It's still early in the season but what these stats and the current product on the field show me is that our defense's success has more to do with the system than the players. It looks to me like our "system" creates stars not the other way around! It's too bad some of our stars didnt see it that way.

If one would to review ex-hawks defense stars, most were low round picks, castoffs, or un-drafted, these guys excelled with Hawks. Earl being an exception. Our current defense lineup? I saw a few low rounders, castoffs, and un-drafted.

Well, one of the reasons, remember, is that players like Sherm were "too big" to play corner. It was felt that players his size could not be agile enough to keep up with WRs in the league. Meanwhile WRs kept getting bigger and bigger when the average DB around the league hovered around 5'10"-6'0". Sherm and Browner were a bit of an anomaly for their time.

But the scheme helps them by encouraging them to be more physical, and play more press where they can bump the WR and disrupt their patterns. They play on the edge of being illegal when it comes to contact, but they have to. It works, though they get maybe more penalties than other secondaries.

Now, the rest of the league is catching up and everybody is looking for tall, long armed CBs. Players like Sherm are not necessarily dropping to the 5th round as often.

SpokaneHawks wrote:It's still early in the season but what these stats and the current product on the field show me is that our defense's success has more to do with the system than the players. It looks to me like our "system" creates stars not the other way around! It's too bad some of our stars didnt see it that way.

If one would to review ex-hawks defense stars, most were low round picks, castoffs, or un-drafted, these guys excelled with Hawks. Earl being an exception. Our current defense lineup? I saw a few low rounders, castoffs, and un-drafted.

Well, one of the reasons, remember, is that players like Sherm were "too big" to play corner. It was felt that players his size could not be agile enough to keep up with WRs in the league. Meanwhile WRs kept getting bigger and bigger when the average DB around the league hovered around 5'10"-6'0". Sherm and Browner were a bit of an anomaly for their time.

But the scheme helps them by encouraging them to be more physical, and play more press where they can bump the WR and disrupt their patterns. They play on the edge of being illegal when it comes to contact, but they have to. It works, though they get maybe more penalties than other secondaries.

Now, the rest of the league is catching up and everybody is looking for tall, long armed CBs. Players like Sherm are not necessarily dropping to the 5th round as often.

MontanaHawk05 wrote:This is better than I expected, but they're not there yet. Giving up 33 points to the Rams at home is a problem.

Is it?They gave up 42 with Earl and Maxwell (LOB members) late last season, so I'm not so sure about that.

This.

I wasn't excited by all the zone defense. The Hawks had a lot of mistakes in all three phases and coaching/clock management. Any one of which could have been the difference in 2 point loss to likely the best team in the league.

The difference between last year and this year is clear. This team is competitive. The Hawks were a joke last year and not entertaining.

The Hawks knew what they have in Tedric, that's why they were comfortable in waiting Earl out.

Every game Tedric plays its seems Earl's price is going down. By the end of the season, ET3 might have to sell that Bentley to by some food for the family as people will recognize that most of the LOB's success was Pete's deft touch training and scheming DB's.

LOB Next Gen is in the house and I'm excited to see how they hold up to Stafford, Rivers and Rodgers in upcoming weeks.